Why you should use points and miles to book holiday travel

20.06.2024 - 19:07 / thepointsguy.com

Holidays can be a great time to travel if you have kids in school or you're running low on vacation time at work, and sometimes they're your only chance to get together with extended family. The downside? Prices tend to spike around Thanksgiving, Christmas and even long holiday weekends like Labor Day.

At TPG, we often discuss the value of being flexible in your travel plans, which can help you find the best deals. But sometimes holidays are the only times you can travel. Thankfully, points and miles can help you avoid paying exponential prices on holiday trips.

Here are some points and miles deals I found for upcoming holidays, from the Fourth of July to New Year's. Whether you're looking for a long weekend getaway, visiting far-flung family on a budget or planning a dream vacation over winter break, these suggestions can help save you money on holiday travel.

Related: Need points for holiday travel? Now is the time to sign up for a new credit card

July Fourth falls on a Thursday this year, making it perfect for a long weekend getaway. Unfortunately, many hotels know this and adjust their prices accordingly.

Let's look at Hyatt's boutique New Orleans hotel, The Eliza Jane. While rates start at $230 per night most weekends in July, those prices spike to over $500 per night the weekend of July Fourth.

But thanks to World of Hyatt's award chart, award rates start at only 20,000 points per night. For a room that would cost at least $538, that comes out to a value of 2.7 cents per point — well above TPG's June 2024 valuation of 1.7 cents apiece for World of Hyatt points.

Marriott Bonvoy, like most hotel loyalty programs, has ditched its award chart in favor of dynamic pricing, but there are still deals to be found. For instance, you could spend three nights at the W Chicago — City Center for a total of 80,000 Bonvoy points — a stay that would set you back $723. This comes out to 0.9 cents per point, slightly above TPG's June 2024 valuation of 0.85 cents each for Bonvoy points.

If you're hoping to beat the heat this Labor Day, Air Canada has some cheap award flights from the West Coast to the Great White North. You can fly from Los Angeles to Calgary (near Banff National Park) for as little as 25,000 Aeroplan points in business class, which is actually slightly cheaper than economy.

You could fly home for about the same price or downgrade to economy for only 10,000 points, for a grand total of 35,000 points.

Cash rates start at $631 for the same route, giving you a solid value of 1.8 cents per point — well above TPG's June 2024 valuation of 1.5 cents apiece for Aeroplan points.

Air Canada also has round-trip Calgary fares from Denver for 23,000 Aeroplan points and from Seattle for 24,000 points.

If you'd